LESSON NOTES · レッスンノート

N3Talking to real people · Sep 28, 2026

How to say thank you again later in Japanese: 先日せんじつは, 先さきほどは, その節せつは

Saying thank you once, in the moment, is not the end of the transaction in Japanese. Bringing it up again the next time you see the person — 先日せんじつはありがとうございました ("thank you for the other day") — is normal, expected, and noticed favorably. Which word you use to point back at "that time" depends entirely on how long ago it was and how big the favor was.

English has one main tool for this: saying thanks again. Japanese has three time-specific words that do the pointing-back for you — 先さきほど (a few minutes or hours ago), 先日せんじつ (a few days or weeks ago), and その節せつ (a notable event, formal register) — and picking the wrong one makes a sincere follow-up thank-you sound slightly off, even though the grammar is fine.

The basics

先日せんじつは: reopening thanks for something a few days old

先日せんじつ means "the other day," a stretch of time from a few days to a few weeks back, vague enough not to need a specific date. Opening with 先日せんじつは at your next meeting or email signals "I'm bringing up something from before," and the sentence that follows is almost always in the past tense, ございました, because the event itself is finished.

先日せんじつはありがとうございました。おかげで助たすかりました。 — Thank you for the other day. It really helped me out. (polite, said at a later meeting)

おかげで ("thanks to you") stacked onto the sentence adds a second layer of gratitude, spelling out that the help had a real, positive effect, not just a polite formality.

先さきほどは: thanking someone again within the same day

先さきほど means "a little while ago" — minutes to a few hours, same day. It shows up when you run into someone again after a meeting, a lesson, or a phone call earlier that day and want to re-acknowledge what just happened, rather than leaving it as a single thank-you at the time.

先さきほどはありがとうございました。とても助たすかりました。 — Thank you for earlier. That really helped. (polite, said later the same day)

Using 先日せんじつ instead of 先さきほど for something that happened two hours ago sounds odd to a Japanese ear — it makes a same-day event sound like distant history, the reverse of the usual mistake of treating something from last week as if it just happened.

Beyond the basics

その節せつは: the formal register for one significant favor

その節せつ literally means "at that juncture," and it's reserved for referencing one specific, notable occasion — a big favor, a wedding, a hospital visit, help during a difficult time — rather than routine daily interactions. It shows up constantly in formal letters, New Year's cards, and business correspondence, and almost never in casual speech.

その節せつは大変たいへんお世話せわになりました。心こころよりお礼れい申し上もうしあげます。 — I'm deeply grateful for everything you did for me at that time. (formal, referencing a significant past favor)

Using その節せつは for something small — someone holding a door, or lending you a pen — sounds comically oversized, the equivalent of writing "I shall forever be in your debt" for a borrowed stapler. It also sits naturally right after ご無沙汰ぶさたしております, the business apology for a long silence, and long time no see in Japanese pairs the two in a greeting to a former colleague or client.

Reiterating thanks in writing: 重かさねてお礼れい申し上もうしあげます

In formal emails and letters, Japanese often thanks the reader once early in the message and then again at the close, using 重かさねて ("once again, repeatedly") to signal that this is a deliberate second mention, not a copy-paste mistake.

重かさねてお礼れい申し上もうしあげます。今後こんごともよろしくお願ねがいいたします。 — Once again, thank you very much. I look forward to working with you going forward. (formal, closing line of a business email)

This pattern — thank once at the top, restate the request or context, thank again with 重かさねて at the bottom — is close to a template for formal Japanese correspondence, similar in spirit to the layered cushioning used when asking for something politely.

How many times is actually appropriate?

The general shape is: once in the moment, once more the next time you meet or write. Beyond that, repeating thanks over and over in the same conversation starts to read as insincere or performative rather than genuinely grateful — the opposite problem from not thanking someone at all. A single well-placed 先日せんじつは or その節せつは carries more weight than the same phrase repeated three times in one email.

本日ほんじつはお忙いそがしい中なか、本当ほんとうにありがとうございました。 — Thank you so much for today, especially with how busy you are. (polite, said once, at the end of a meeting — no need to repeat this three times)

The casual version: この間あいだ and この前まえ

Among friends, the formal machinery disappears in favor of この間あいだ or この前まえ ("the other day," casual), and the past-tense verb often shortens too.

この間あいだはありがとうね、助たすかった。 — Thanks for the other day, that really helped. (casual, to a friend)

The casual version keeps the same underlying logic — reopening thanks for something already finished — with none of the register weight that 先日せんじつは or その節せつは carry in formal contexts.

Forgetting to re-thank someone: what it signals

Not bringing up a favor again the next time you meet doesn't read as neutral in Japanese the way it might in English — it can read as having forgotten, or as not having taken the favor seriously enough to remember it. This is part of why thank you and its whole ladder treats gratitude as something that gets repeated across time, not delivered once and closed.

Common mistakes

  • Using 先日せんじつはありがとうございます (present tense) as your default. ございました is the standard for something finished; ございます is also heard when the gratitude is still felt, but learners should default to ございました.
  • Using その節せつは for something small. It's reserved for one notable, significant favor; using it for routine daily kindness sounds comically oversized.
  • Using 先日せんじつ for something that happened hours ago. 先日せんじつ implies days, not hours — 先さきほど is the correct word for same-day, recent events.
  • Never bringing up a favor again at the next meeting. Silence on it can read as having forgotten, not as being casual about it.
  • Repeating thanks more than twice for a small favor. Beyond once in the moment and once later, extra repetition starts to sound performative rather than sincere.

Time-based re-thanking words

Word Time frame Register
先さきほどは Minutes to hours ago, same day Polite
この間あいだは A few days ago Casual
先日せんじつは A few days to a few weeks ago Polite
その節せつは A specific, notable past event Formal
重かさねて Repeating thanks already given in the same message Formal, written

FAQ

Is it strange to thank someone again days after the original event? No — it's expected. Bringing up 先日せんじつはありがとうございました at the next meeting is standard and is noticed as thoughtful, not repetitive.

What's the difference between 先日せんじつ and この間あいだ? Both mean roughly "the other day," but 先日せんじつ is polite and appropriate in business or formal contexts, while この間あいだ is casual, appropriate with friends or close coworkers.

When should I use その節せつは instead of 先日せんじつは? Reserve その節せつは for one specific, significant favor — not routine daily interactions. Using it for something small sounds oversized and slightly stiff.

Do I need to say thank you again if I already thanked them by text right after? It's still normal and appreciated to bring it up again at the next in-person meeting, even if you already thanked them digitally right after the event.

Can I use 重かさねて more than once in the same email? It's meant as a single, deliberate repetition near the close of a message — using it more than once in one email loses its effect and starts to sound repetitive rather than sincere.

Practice

1. "Thank you for the other day. It really helped me out."

Show answer

先日せんじつはありがとうございました。おかげで助たすかりました。 — 先日せんじつ points back a few days to a few weeks, and ございました is past tense because the event is finished.

2. "Thank you for earlier. That really helped."

Show answer

先さきほどはありがとうございました。とても助たすかりました。 — 先さきほど is same-day, minutes to hours ago — not 先日せんじつ, which implies days.

3. "I'm deeply grateful for everything you did for me at that time."

Show answer

その節せつは大変たいへんお世話せわになりました。心こころよりお礼れい申し上もうしあげます。 — その節せつは is reserved for one significant, notable favor, in a formal register.

4. "Once again, thank you very much. I look forward to working with you going forward."

Show answer

重かさねてお礼れい申し上もうしあげます。今後こんごともよろしくお願ねがいいたします。 — 重かさねて signals a deliberate second thank-you near the close of a formal message.

5. "Thanks for the other day, that really helped." (casual, to a friend)

Show answer

この間あいだはありがとうね、助たすかった。 — この間あいだ is the casual equivalent of 先日せんじつ, right for friends rather than formal contexts.

6. Why is 先日せんじつはありがとうございました the standard form?

Show answer

Because the event is finished — ございました is the default for something over; ございます is possible when the thanks is still live, but sounds less settled.

7. Fix this: その節せつはありがとうございました, said for someone who held a door open a few minutes ago.

Show answer

先さきほどはありがとうございました。 — その節せつは is reserved for one significant favor; a small, recent kindness calls for 先さきほどは instead.

8. What does it signal in Japanese if you never bring up a favor again at your next meeting?

Show answer

It can read as having forgotten, or as not having taken the favor seriously enough to remember it — silence on it isn't neutral the way it can be in English.

9. True or false: repeating thanks five times in one conversation makes gratitude sound more sincere.

Show answer

False. — Beyond once in the moment and once later, extra repetition starts to sound performative rather than genuinely grateful.

10. Which word fits: thanking a colleague for help with a meeting that ended twenty minutes ago?

Show answer

先さきほど — twenty minutes ago is same-day and recent, the exact range 先さきほど covers, not 先日せんじつ or その節せつ.

Bringing a favor back up days later with 先日せんじつは is a small habit that makes you sound natural fast, so try it in a trial lesson by thanking a coworker for last week's help.

Vocabulary from this article

Tap the block to select all of it, then copy. In Anki: File → Import, note type Basic, separator Tab — the first column becomes the front, the second the back.

先日	せんじつ — the other day (a few days to weeks ago, polite)
先ほど	さきほど — a little while ago (minutes to hours, same day)
その節	そのせつ — at that time (a specific, notable past event, formal)
この間	このあいだ — the other day (casual)
この前	このまえ — the other day (casual)
重ねて	かさねて — once again, repeatedly (formal, written)
お世話になりました	おせわになりました — thank you for everything you did for me
おかげで	おかげで — thanks to you, because of you
助かりました	たすかりました — it really helped (me)
心より	こころより — from the heart, sincerely
本日	ほんじつ — today (formal)

I'm Yuuki, a Japanese teacher based in Tokyo. I've taught on italki as a Top 1% teacher and watched over 1,500 anime, and 先日せんじつは is one of the small habits that makes returning students sound noticeably more natural — bringing back a favor from last week instead of letting it disappear.

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Sources: the author's own lessons and standard reference grammars.

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